During the height of Luwane Pipkins’ struggles this season I went back and watched a few of the best games from his UMass days to see what looked different. The one game that stood out was when he scored 27 points against a nationally ranked URI team in 2018.
Pipkins played downhill against what was a terrific defensive backcourt — splitting double teams for short jumpers, finishing in transition, beating defenders backdoor, and finding space off the dribble from mid-range.
It is somewhat ironic that I watched him against URI, as his low point this season likely came at the Ryan Center, when Pipkins went 0-5 in 17 minutes and looked like a shell of the player Providence fans had seen the three years prior.